Vista 5456 June CTP on Toshiba M400
Let me tell you that if you are running Vista, you should be getting the latest build 5456. It is far more stable than it's predecessors, including Beta 2.
Alas, Intel is still not there with the driver support (What gives). Aero glass support is possible with the Lakeport drivers as I have described in my previous post. Performance is not bad, at least the transparencies don't make me dizzy as in the real early builds of Vista posted early this year. But you will have to forget things like hibernation and suspend. It took me a while to determine what the issue was (Numerous rebuilds, I think I lost count), but it is the Lakeport drivers from Intel. So back to the basic GMA Intel drivers. Since we are on the driver thing, has anyone been able to access the Toshiba site for beta drivers on Vista? Since all my machines are running IE7, I haven't been able to test access using IE6. (How ironic would it be if IE7 didn't work but IE6 did?)
The one thing that I really noticed about 5456 is a faster more streamlined install from CD. Hopefully we will not be rebuilding that frequently =)
Another feature that I have been playing around with is the ReadyBoost function with a USB key. I currently have a SanDisk Cruzer micro 4GB. Since I already have 2GB of memory, the performance increase isn't really noticeable for basic work. Where I did notice the benefit is when I am doing some serious virtualization, running three virtual machines including Outlook 2K7. ReadyBoost really shines when you are hammering your hard disk. Kudos goes to the people who developed this.
Well lets hope the next release will be an RC candidate!
Toshiba, and Intel really need to get there act together regarding driver support. I have a buddy with a IBM/Lenovo T60 and Vista runs beautifully. I am going to get one of these for work, and I will definitely be testing Vista on it!
Alex